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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ibnanv" data-source="post: 17762965" data-attributes="member: 218596">Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, brother of Sri Lankan ex-leader, accused of ordering murders, including that of a newspaper editor.<img src="http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/images/2015/1/18//20151187710365580_20.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was defence minister in his brother's government which lost the January 8 polls                                                                                  Sri Lankan authorities are investigating a claim that  the toppled president's younger brother ran a "death squad" and ordered  a high-profile newspaper editor's assassination, a police spokesman  said. Former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa ordered the hit on  Lasantha Wickrematunga in January 2009, ex-public relations minister  Mervyn Silva alleged in a formal complaint lodged with police on  Saturday, the spokesman said. Wickrematunga was fatally shot in 2009, just days before he was due  to testify in a defamation case Rajapaksa had filed against his paper,  which had been highly critical of the then-ruling family. "We have received a complaint that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was  responsible for abductions, assaults and murder," police spokesman Ajith  Rohana told AFP news agency on Sunday. "Three murders have been mentioned and one is that of Lasantha  Wickrematunga. He (Rajapaksa) is accused of running a death squad."  Rohanna added. Rajapaksa could not be contacted for comment. Wickrematunga and his Sunday Leader newspaper were vocal  critics of Rajapaksa's administration, and had accused Gotabhaya of  corruption over the purchase of second-hand aircraft and arms for the  military.At the time, the government denied it was behind Wickrematunga's  killing, but Saturday's complaint reopens the unsolved murder case. Since Mahinda Rajapaksa’s defeat during January 8 <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2015/01/rajapaksa-concedes-defeat-sri-lanka-vote-20151911423615440.html" target="_blank">presidential elections</a>, complaints have flooded a Sri Lankan anti-graft commission alleging huge corruption by members of his administration. The ex-leader himself faces allegations that he tried to use military  force and remain in office when it became clear during the vote count  that he was headed for a defeat 'White van abductions' Sri Lanka has faced international criticisms over its dismal human  rights record during the past decade, with rights groups accusing  Rajapaksa of silencing critics and dissidents. In his complaint, Silva also said Gotabhaya was the "architect of white van abductions". Being "white-vanned" became synonymous with abductions in Sri Lanka  after dozens of people were abducted in white vans, their dead bodies  later dumped by the road. The tactic was widely reported to be used by security forces against  opponents during and after the island's drawn-out Tamil separatist  conflict, which ended in May 2009. Scores of independent journalists and political dissidents are still living abroad in exile. Rajapaksa’s administration also faced allegations that his troops  killed at least 40,000 Tamil civilians while crushing Tamil Tiger  guerrillas in the final stages of the ethnic war. The new government of Maithripala Sirisena has promised reparations  and a domestic investigation into war time atrocities committed by  security forces.</blockquote>

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